In a conventional label applicating process, a label applicator applies labels to articles as the articles are advanced through a label applying station. The labels can be transferred from the label applicator to the articles by tamping, air pressure, or a combination of the two. A label applicator of this general type is shown in Kucheck et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,220.
It is sometimes necessary or desirable to angularly orient the label on the article. For example, in labeling certain articles cut from cloth or other kinds of sheet material, a label applicator can be mounted on a traversing mechanism and sequentially positioned over each of the parts to be labeled. In this event, it is important to angularly orient the label for each of the parts or articles to be labeled, and each such orientation may be different from the preceding orientation.
One label applicator having some ability to angularly orient a label is shown in Pettis et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,436. In that label applicator, a label is retained on one vacuum foot, and a rotatable vacuum foot is advanced through the first vacuum foot to pick up the label and transfer it to an article to be labeled. The adjustments in the amount of rotation of the rotatable vacuum foot are quite limited and are not infinitely adjustable. In addition, the patented construction is relatively complex in various respects, including the requirement for two separate vacuum feet and the necessity for transferring the label from one vacuum foot to the other.